1. Magical Realism-- An artistic genre in which elements of fantasy are woven into an otherwise realistic setting.

Ex. "An Old Man With Enormous Wings" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Other examples:

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Pan's Labyrinth

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Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory"


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Chris Van Allsburg's Jumanji


2. Myth-- a myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to have their present form. The active beings in myths are generally gods and heroes. Myths often are said to take place before recorded history begins. In saying that a myth is a sacred narrative, what is meant is that a myth is believed to be true by people who attach religious or spiritual significance to it. Use of the term by scholars does not imply that the narrative is either true or false. See also legend and tale. (Adapted from Wikipedia).

3. Legend--(Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. ...

4. Archetype-- A figure whose traits and modes of behavior show up again and again in various literary characters across space and time.